Jobs finally join the burgeoning economy

In the past couple of months the economy has been moving from a mixed-bag of news to primarily positive reports. The millstone has always been continued deterioration in the job market.
Finally, with today’s announcement, the job market seems to be showing signs of a turnaround. According to a CNNMoney.com report, in November, the unemployment rate showed the largest decline in more than three years. Only 11,000 jobs were lost in November. Experts were expecting 125,000. September and October job losses were also adjusted down, resulting in a three-month positive trend.
This comes on the heels of the most-recent Architecture Billings Index, as reported in the November issue of CBP’s E-Newsletter. The October index of 46.1 was the highest mark since August 2008 and a notable increase from the 43.1 September number. The new-projects inquiry score remained strongly in the growth category at 58.5.
We all know that the job market is still rather lousy and the Architecture Billings Index, though improving, is still showing a declining market. But, as we reach the end of a very difficult year, it’s encouraging to see these key numbers heading north instead of south.—Gary L. Parr